Fantasy Flight Games has announced the upcoming release of Middle-earth Quest, a new deluxe board game set in the universe of The Lord of the Rings. The game is the fifth title based on the Lord of the Rings to be published by Fantasy Flight, and the first since 2004’s War of the Ring.

 

The game takes place in the intervening years between Bilbo’s Farewell Party and Frodo’s departure from the Shire. One player assumes the role of the Dark Lord Sauron himself and tries to hamper the other players while advancing his own agenda to seize control of Middle-earth. The other players (up to three) take on the roles of new heroes, created specifically for the game, who interact with and learn from established characters from The Lord of the Rings, like Gandalf, Aragorn, and Boromir. The hero players work together to defend the lands of Middle-earth and prepare for Sauron’s assault, while the Sauron player has three different paths to victory: conquest, corruption, or the discovery of the One Ring.

 

Middle-earth Quest is for two to four players and includes a game board, five character cards, over 470 game cards, over 225 game tokens, and 10 plastic playing pieces. The game comes out later this year and has an MSRP of $79.95.